Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
As this is being written, it’s raining throughout WNY, providing some much-needed water flow in the Lake Ontario tributaries and hopefully pull more salmon and steelhead into them.
There are a fair number of kings at Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek according to Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott. Mixed reports from anglers – some catching a few, some striking out. Pier action has been slow. Some anglers with small boats are working the creek in some of the deeper holes and picking up some salmon. The dam has a good mix of fish but getting them to hit with all the pressure has been tough. With the added rains, one option might be to seek out streams away from the high-pressure areas for a mix of trout and salmon. With the opening of numerous hunting seasons this weekend, stream pressure should be lighter, and the weather should be good.
The Niagara River action continues to be slow in the lower river. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls reports he finally caught two salmon off the NYPA fishing platform this past week, tossing a No. 3 spinner with an orange body and a silver blade. For the most part the action has been slow. Boat fishermen targeting salmon in the Devil’s Hole area have also been struggling.
Lisa Drabczyk of Creek Road Bait and Tackle reports that bass fishing is still good in the lower Niagara downriver. A few walleyes, too. Shore fishermen in the upper stretches of Artpark casting for steelhead and salmon are starting to hook up with lake trout on occasion. Remember that the lake trout season is closed if you catch one. Release it quickly and unharmed.
In the upper river, smallmouth bass fishing has been very good. When the winds are strong, though, it makes fishing tough because of boat control. This was evident in the Canadian Tire Lake Erie Open Bass Tournament last Saturday.
Quality was there as fish up to 6 pounds were caught. Numbers were not as catching 5 fish for a team was tough. The winners were Ryan Samland of Grand Island and Ian Cashdollar of West Seneca, the first-ever U.S. team to win the contest. Teams were required to fish in the river due to the high winds on Lake Erie. They boated 21 pounds of bass, including a lunker largemouth that tipped the scales at 5.10 pounds. They won $7,500 for their efforts.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Lake Ontario/Oswego River Report
Oswego River Report
The rainfall we have had since yesterday has caused a rise in the river flow with it running at 7,510 cfs this morning and the water temperature is at about 57 degrees. Today is another wet, windy day but conditions are expected to improve by tomorrow afternoon with a nice fall weekend coming up. Early in the week fish seemed to be active in the harbor area and with the increased water flow in the river, hopefully there will be some good action throughout the river over the next few days. Anglers are finding salmon, steelhead and an occasional brown trout. Suggested baits are skein, deep diving thundersticks, egg sacs, beads, and marabou jigs.
According to Oz Angling Tackle:
As salmon begin dropping their eggs, beautiful specimens of steelhead start showing up to gorge on them. It truly is a special time of year on Lake Ontario tributaries.
Notice: The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) zones on the river. For more information, visit our website at visitoswegocounty.com and click on the Fishing Report along the top bar on the home page. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its “Loaner for Life” program. For more information contact the fire station, 35 E. Cayuga St., at 315-343-2161.
Salmon River Report:
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
The morning clouds and strong winds gave way to constant rain yesterday afternoon which has continued into today. Just what we’ve been waiting for! The angers that I spoke with that fished yesterday morning were able to get into some fresher kings and as the winds stopped and the rains started I received more reports of better numbers of fresh kings. Not a trickle, but good numbers of fresh kings were scattered throughout the run. In addition, although the steelhead fishing yesterday morning I would characterize as “very good,” the steelhead fishing picked up noticeably throughout the afternoon and into the evening. The flow is scheduled to remain at 350 cfs and the current flow at Pineville is 637 cfs which has risen sharply from 419 cfs yesterday morning.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
With the recent rain it’s no surprise we’re getting increased runoff and this should also have fish on the move. Yesterday the anglers we spoke with who fished the DSR reported getting into a mix of fresh kings and steelhead. Other anglers stopping into the shop also reported getting into some fish at the Ballpark, Pineville, Schoolhouse and both the Upper & Lower Fly Zones. The most productive patterns have been estaz eggs, glo-bugs, sucker spawn, bunny leeches, egg sucking leeches, flesh fly, hot stones and woolly buggers.
Oneida Lake Report:
With the cooler temperatures the night walleye bite has picked up. Casting stickbaits from shore just before and after dark is a suggested application for walleye this time of year. If you are still interested in fishing the deeper waters for them, worm harnesses, blade baits, and stickbaits are suggested baits to try. For bass, keep an eye out for bird activity or for fish breaking on the surface. This species can provide some exciting fishing.
Sandy Pond Report:
The pond is quiet this time of year.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
A little action out from Hughes Marina on this Columbus Day holiday, however the salmon run is not very spectacular to say the least. There are some staging kings out from the chute at Sodus Bay, however lake fishing is over for this season.
It was another record year for Lake Ontario fishing, and spring fishing will be here before you know it.
Streams
The kings and browns in Maxwell Creek is either a hit or a miss. The flow is not conducive for teasing trout to enter streams. A few browns were hitting egg sacs, but not like last year. Hopefully it’s a late start for stream fishing, but the word up and down the lake has been the same…a very slow trib season.
Bays
Fishing the Wayne County bays has been great. Largemouth bass are everywhere and hitting worm rigs.
The famous perch fishing in the bays has been spotty with nothing really setting-up. They are there and there has been plenty of class sizes, they just haven’t been localized. You need to do some moving around. That will change has the water cools down and they school.
The perch are hitting small 2-inch Power Bait tipped with spikes, or you can try rosy-red minnows.
When they start to school, they will be off the points in Sodus and Port Bays.
Winter anglers will be on the ice by mid- December if we have the cold Canadian air cross Lake Ontario. And if the perch bite like the last two years there will be some nice 12 inchers in the pail.
Currently all launch sites are open in Wayne County.
If you need tackle Bay Bridge Sport Shop and Davenports at the south end of Sodus Bay are always opened. B-E Fishing in Ontario has everything you need to put you on the water. B-E will be closing after decades of offering bait and tackle for anglers fishing this region. Keep an eye-out for some tremendous sales.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. waynecountytourism.com.
Erie Canal
The canal will official close Tuesday October 16th for boat traffic, however that won’t interfere with fishing certain sections.
The canal waters are running in the high 60-degree temperature which is perfect for bass fishing, Fish the south side of the waters where the weedlines are thick.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec, Tight Lines Charters
It looks like fishing pressure has backed off some now after there were a few more anglers out this past holiday weekend. There is still a fair amount of folks at the dam. Forecast ahead looks seasonably cool with a chance of rain Wednesday and Thursday – a half-inch or more of precipitation. Any significant precipitation would be a good thing to possibly bump up tributary flows and encourage salmon migrations. For now, the kings continue a slow roll migration with still most all fish in good shape and only some fish actually spawning. Over the past weekend, anglers did report seeing some kings moving through fast water areas in the early morning or later evening time frame. Still, no prolonged marching like an all-day movement noted. Majority behavior has been steaming up to or near the dam. Flows in the Oak are low to moderate and clear. Any rise inflows and some color to the water would make for better hook-up chances. The believed scattered Kings out in Lake Ontario are still passing through the River mouth and casters intercepted some of those fish even this past weekend. Patient skein drifters report seeing a few fish crashing in the lower frog water areas on the Oak and some bobber downs. The early browns and steelhead and Atlantics reported are not surprisingly mixed up with the majority of the salmon nearer the dam or just downstream.
Don’t forget about the Personal Flotation Device (PFD) requirement by the power company on their lands where wading is allowed. The other area smaller tributaries have low and clear and dropping flows with scattered numbers of salmon reported. Any rise inflows should really benefit those smaller waterways to move out more summertime weeds and encourage salmon migrations. Look for a continued trickling of Kings unless there is a spate of water. Colder nights are finally dropping trib water temps now into the 50’s and that should put more Kings on gravel while encouraging more brown trout migrations too.